No Action is Required

Scripture: And Gedaliah assured them that it would be safe to surrender to the Babylonians. "Stay here and serve the king of Babylon," he said, "and all will go well for you." Jeremiah 40:9

Observation: Judah is destroyed. Not everyone was deported, but Gedaliah has been appointed regional governor and he tells the remnant it is okay to stay and serve Babylon. They won't. One of the leaders will kill Gedaliah.

The rest will go to Jeremiah and ask him what they should do and where they should go escape the likely justice of Babylon. Jeremiah prays, and God's answer is, if they flee to Egypt, they will die. Instead, they are to stay for he will protect them. They won't. They'll flee to Egypt and die.

There is a recurring narrative at this stage, which is God - through various messages - telling the people to stay, relax, and simply settle into their lives, and the people refusing. At every turn after the first defeat of Jerusalem and the first wave of exiles, God's message is that the remnant - and even the exiles themselves - will be fine, if they simply return to a simple life and again put their faith in God. No action is required. However, they try to act over and over, rebelling and then fleeing, and incurring further wrath and punishment from both Babylon and God.

Application: I say this today ... I am done figuring out my own action. That is ironic, given how little I have managed and directed my own life in the past. However, it is also true that it worked out well, and I absolutely know that God has always directed the path of my life perfectly. When I have tried to define my own goals and create my own way, I have instead failed.

God has authority over the path of my personal and professional life. He may tell me to stay. He may tell me to go. He may tell me to move on, or he may tell me to settle in. I pray I am strong and wise enough to listen with all my heart and all my mind and all my soul and all my strength, every time.

Prayer: Lord, you have before told me to stay, and I have tried to go. I now wonder what I should do next. Instead of taking any action, I will only pray and listen. Please give me clear instruction. If I am to stay, please tell me so. If I am to go, please give me your word to do so without an earthly motivation. Amen.